Animal Traits
by hollowmagic
Summary: Kouji confesses to Tsuyu.


Tsuyu Asui's class cheer themselves on after a hard day of hero work. The top two, Katsuki and Shoto, seem to be on slightly better terms than they had been in the past. That's fine with Shota Aizawa. At least it makes his job easier. Ochako and Tsuyu enjoy their patrols with Ryukyu, perhaps more than anyone else in class.

Tsuyu Asui says goodnight to her friends as they head up the stairs of the dorms, saying she will be up after she gets a glass of water. The kitchen is empty as she fills the cup with water, the splashing sound being louder than usual.

The frog girl is about head up for bed when she is stopped in the common room by a boy whose mouth rarely opens. Kouji Kouda taps her shoulder as she walks by, causing her to look up at him with her blank, emotionless stare.

"What is it, Kouda-chan?"

Both of them share an awkward silence, Kouji casting his eyes down. Soon, his head turns to the dormitory entrance, his finger lifting to it. Tsuyu looks to see what he is pointing at, and after seeing nothing wrong, she asks, "Do you want me to go outside, kero?"

Kouji nods sheepishly.

Curious, she presses a finger to her mouth, face unchanging. The boy moves toward the door, as if to lead her. Tsuyu places her cup of water down and follows the animal-talker outside, where he continues to lead her a bit from the building. She's skeptical, but then again, she doesn't know exactly what he wants from her.

He stands in front of her a few feet away. Like a newborn calf, he almost looks scared. Tsuyu's head tilts, "Are you okay, Kouda-chan? You look pale, kero."

Her bluntness sends a shock up his spine. Kouji's fingers begin intertwining in a nervous fashion as he shakes his head. He swallows, having trouble finding the courage just to look at her in the eyes. He wants to talk- tries so hard to, but it's nearly impossible. It's as if his words gave up and left him on his own.

Tsuyu tries to comprehend the situation despite the silence. "Did you," she starts, head turning to look back at the dorms, "want to talk to me?"

Kouji nods sheepishly.

"Mm," she brings her finger up to her mouth, "what did you want to say? It's getting cold."

Hearing this, Kouji begins to panic as he tries to find the best way to get his message across. Face flushing heavily, he looks down at his hands and starts using sign language. Tsuyu simply watches his hands go, staring intently at their motions. She waits until he's completely finished the message, just to say, "I don't understand."

His heart drops. He knows Tsuyu is nice and kind, despite her strange attitude, but that's what he thinks makes her...unique. Kouji knows there's more to her than just a frog appearance. He just never had a chance to get to know her.

That's where he wants things to change. He has to tell her this very important message, no matter what.

"You don't have to tell me right now," she tells him, seeming to notice his trembling arms. Kouji shakes his head rapidly and makes jazz hands.

This time, he's slow with his actions. He points to himself, and pauses. Then, he makes a little heart with his hands. Finally, he points at her, and pauses.

Tsuyu blinks.

…

Then, she blushes.

"Oh," she mumbles. Kouji immediately flushes and looks away at the ground. It wasn't the response he was expecting, but then again, he can never really tell what she's thinking. Silence echoes between them as the nearby lamp flickers.

Tsuyu Asui is at a loss. Normally, she says whatever's in her head, and that's the issue right now. She doesn't know what to think. Even though it was slow and concise, the message she got seems to be processing too fast for her to understand. It was terse, but ambiguous at the same time. Tsuyu feels her face heat up as she ponders the past few minutes.

Kouji Kouda rarely talks. Tsuyu's never had a one-on-one conversation with him like this before. A confrontation like this is actually a bit of a shocker. He's friendly, never getting aggressive at someone. The thought of him liking her because she's a frog crosses her mind, but is immediately dismissed. She can't go making assumptions about someone she barely knows. Especially since he's the one who brought her out here.

She likes his quirk. Kouji did a good job using it in the final exam with Kyouka. It was very useful during the Provisional License Exam. His quirk, Anivoice, is something interesting to the expressionless Tsuyu Asui. Despite this, it's not enough to make her say she likes him.

"You like me."

He bashfully nods, hesitating at first. He blushes a bright cherry.

"I'm flattered, Kouda-chan."

Kouji gives a tiny grin. There's a ray of hope in his eyes, crickets in the background cheering him on.

Tsuyu averts her eyes away, "I'm flattered, but," she takes a second to calculate her words, "I don't know you very well. I'm sorry."

It breaks her heart when he frowns. A light dies in his eyes, and he just looks outright depressed. Tsuyu suddenly finds that she, too, is starting to feel extremely uncomfortable.

"You are very brave, Kouda-chan," she says. "Most people can't bring themselves to confess like this. Doing it in person takes a lot of courage."

Kouji squirms at her compliments and grins slightly. The crickets die out in the background, now just the buzzing of the dim lamp nearby. The frog girl contemplates her next course of action, when suddenly, a new idea pops into her head.

"Kouda-chan, let's be friends."

The phrase itself is enough to make Kouji have an incredulous look. Tsuyu wants to be friends? Even after he made such a fool of himself, and wasted her time by bringing her out here?

"Call me Tsu, kero."

It hit him- cupid's bow fired and he's fallen in love all over again. The gloomy sadness is instantly replaced by giddy jubilation, a little bounce being added to his step. After staring at the ground for so long, he can't take it anymore and looks at the girl in front of him. His heart races at the sight of Tsuyu Asui smiling at him, her first emotion expressed physically. Soon, he finds himself in a similar state, a wide grin reaching ear-to-ear.

It's quiet, ever so quiet, but it's loud enough for her. Tsuyu listens carefully as Kouji opens his mouth for the first time tonight, "T...Tsu...chan…"

"Kero, kero..."

He doesn't feel so sad anymore. In fact, being friends with Tsuyu sounds just as great. As he tries to organize his thoughts, the girl says, "Kouda-chan. Ochako-chan, Midoriya-chan, Iida-chan, Todoroki-chan, and I are visiting a new cafe that opened recently, kero. Want to join us?"

Kouji's speechless as he nods as quickly as possible. He's beyond fearing how many people are going to be there. With Tsuyu there, he doesn't feel the need to be so worried over a crowd. He hopes Midoriya and everyone else is alright with an extra guest…

...Well, knowing Midoriya, he'd go and act like they're best friends on accident.

Tsuyu explains where the cafe is and what time they'll be visiting. Kouji listens as she speaks, then offers to walk her back to the dorms. The young heroes make it back inside safe and sound, the night time chill dissipating almost instantly.

"Kouda-chan," Tsuyu says, heading for the stairs, "I'm going to sleep. Goodnight."

He nods without a word- yet until he sees a lone glass of water resting on the coffee table. Panicking, he nabs the glass off the table and stutters out, "T-Tsu-! Tsu...chan-!"

She turns at the nearly inaudible sound of her name, eyes falling on her forgotten glass of water, "Oh," she retrieves her glass and smiles up at him one last time, "thank you, Kouda-chan."

"..You...You're w-welcome...T-Tsu-chan…"

"Goodnight, kero."

"G-Goodnight…"

Tsuyu heads back to the stairs, pausing a little ways up the slope to tell him, "I'll see you tomorrow, Kouda-chan." He exchanges his last goodbye and watches her stalk up the steps. The common room is left with Kouji grinning to himself in happiness.

He can't wait to see Tsuyu again tomorrow.


End file.
